The Luster of Stars in Moscow
⁇ 61

"There's nobody yet. He won't suspect." Mikail said to someone on her phone line. "Good, Sir!"

Then suddenly the door of the apartment room rattled open.

Mikail flinched and closed the call as fast as lightning silently.

Cheri appeared with tangled hair and a face drenched in tears mixed with rain. Her clothes were in a mess with a few buttons that were missing.

Mikail screamed without a sound.

The girl slammed into his arms while crying.

"Cheri—you why?" Mikail asked worriedly.

Cheri tightened his embrace on Mikail's waist.

The man raised one of his hands to Cheri's head carefully. "You—"

"I met Rafael earlier," the story of Cheri sobbed.

Mikail's chest rumbled.

"When he was telling me about his past search, another personality suddenly appeared!"

"What did he do to you?" Mikail shook both of Cheri's shoulders.

Cheri gulped and shook his head. "I'm okay" he said quickly.

Mikail looked at him with squashed eyes, then looked at the girl from top to bottom, then back up—to her face.

"Dia—" Cheri stuttered as he grabbed the front of his shirt, covering the wide part.

Mikail turned her gaze quickly.

"He said Rafael was dead" Cheri half-wept. "He's lying, right?"

Mikail fell silent and paled.

"Marile!" Cher urged.

"I'll tell you later" Mikail said at last. "After you change your clothes." He glanced at Cheri's shirt.

"Tell me now" Cheri won't understand.

"You're soaking wet" Mikail said. "Later you get sick."

"It's okay" Cheri insisted. "I want to hear it now. Tell me everything, Mikail. Tell me everything you know."

Mikail let out a heavy sigh, "I'll tell you," he growled. His eyes looked straight into Cheri's eyes. "Eat him change your clothes," he said.

Cheri lost a landslide.

The beautiful man is terrible when it comes out his strict nature, he thought. Then hurry up and change clothes.

As soon as Cheri returned to the sitting room, Mikail had already prepared a cup of hot drink.

"You're like mothers" she commented with a typical expression of her children.

"No need to grumble" protested Mikail. "I'll definitely tell you everything. Now sit down."

Cheri placed himself on the sofa at Mikail's side, facing towards the fireplace.

Mikail sighed softly. "It's sad" he said starting his story. "Like a tragedy."

Cheri took a sip of hot chocolate in his cup while glancing at the man. Curious.

The man's face was flat, but the light of his eyes seemed to dim. "Rafael Moscovich is actually the rightful heir to the Moscovich Corporation. But even so, within the Moscovich extended family, Rafael became a kind of taboo."

Cheri raised his eyebrows.

Mikail glanced at him and smiled wryly. "When I asked about him, no one answered. No one dared to connect with him. They just gave him money and let him dabble in the theater he likes."

"Why?" Cherry interrupted impatiently.

"For reasons of tradition" Mikail answered briefly.

Cheri frowned.

"Twenty-two years ago, Grigory Moscovich was blessed with twins" Mikail's story goes. "They are. Rafael and Valentin."

"So the story about the twins is true?"

"Yes!"

Cheri spontaneously fell silent.

Cheri gulped, suddenly feeling anxious.

"First-born Rachel became the heir, while the later-born Valentin grew up without knowing his true identity."

Cheri sighed slowly, suddenly feeling a tightness inside his chest.

"It should go on as planned" muttered Mikail, dropping his gaze on the floor. "But on the day of the fire nine years ago that happened to coincide with their thirteenth birthday, things changed."

Cheri looked at Mikail with round eyes and mouth. But don't say anything.

"On that day, no one understood why Valentin, who should have no idea of his real identity at all, could have come to Moscovich's residence and had the fire."

"Then?"

"One of the children was burned to death, while the other was saved, but lost consciousness."

"So who really survived?" Cherry asked directly to the point.

"There's a birthmark on the body of the surviving child."

"And what does that mean?"

"The child who has the birthmark is Valentin."

Cheri spontaneously shook his head.

"The survivor of the fire was Valentin" Mikail confirmed.

A lie!

Cheri won't believe it.

"But a few days later." Mikail added. "The boy was conscious from the coma and he claimed to be Rafael."

Cheri smothered his face with both palms.

"That's when the phenomenon of multiple personalities began."

Cheri.

Mikail breathed a heavy sigh. "And apparently, he lost his memory of the fire and also his memory of Valentin. Moscovich's extended family is worried about a scandal and they try to darken the incident and accept Valentin as Rafael."

"Lying," hiss Cheri insisted. "The survivor must be Rafael, right?"

Mikail smiled bitterly and spread her shoulders slightly in a helpless manner. "To hide Valentin from the public spotlight, they sent him to school abroad. The story after that. You yourself must have known."

Cheri shook his head again. "Sorry," he sighed. "I can't believe it."

At that time and until now, Rafael was Rafael.

Mikail looked at Cheri with concern. "In fact, until now, they're still trying to keep Rafael from knowing anything."

Cheri lowered his hand from his face and turned to Mikail. "You also believe that he's not Rafael?"

Mikail shrugged her shoulders. "Judging from all the data collected during this time, he is indeed Valentin."

Cheri shook his head quickly. "No" he argued. "I don't believe."

Mikail smiled understandably.

"I'm sure that the survivor is Rafael" Cheri insisted. "I know this is unwarranted, but later I will definitely find the evidence and bring Rafael back."

Mikail let out a heavy sigh and got up from the sofa, then walked slowly across the room and stopped near the window, standing behind Cheri.

Is he angry? thought Cheri.

Mikail slipped both her hands into her pants pocket and was stunned for quite a while.

"I'm sorry" said Cheri. "I realized all this time I've always relied on you and trusted you. But not for this one. Although the evidence is complete, I still believe that Rafael is the real Rafael."

Mikail finally turned to Cheri. Then a thin grin. "I can understand," he said half chuckling. "For you it's very natural."

Cheri raised his eyebrows, feeling somewhat offended.

"But know, Cheri!" Mikail turned her body, faced towards Cheri, and looked into his eyes. "This man is dangerous."

Cheri gulped with difficulty and shook his head.

"This man must be held captive" Mikail added.

"You're gonna catch him?" Cheri asked in surprise.

"You think?" Mikail asked back with a cold turned expression.